oday's guest didn't need to buy a business.

In his 50s, with a decades-long resume as an entrepreneur and multiple exits, including taking a company public at 29 years old, Nick Molina had already built wealth.

But he knew about himself that he needed "action", as he put it.

So he was looking for some outlet for his entrepreneurial energy.

And when he discovered entrepreneurship through acquisition, his eyes lit up at the low multiples that small businesses transact for.

There is magic in these multiples, to borrow a phrase from Rick & Royce, the authors of the HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business.

That was April of this year — April 24th, to be exact. This was the date that Nick bought Buy Then Build by Walker Deibel.

By June 18th, less than 2 months later, he had a deal under LOI.

And a nice-sized one for a self-funded search: 8 figures in revenue, 7 in SDE.

It was a property management business in Minneapolis. 95 years old.

Nick is in Miami, and we spend a good amount of time on how he thought about buying a business that he did not intend to operate himself.

As you've heard me say, and will continue to, we're not big advocates of self-funded searchers thinking they can buy a business with an SBA loan and have an operator run it for them — let alone run it from the other side of the country.

But Nick has deep operational experience and a strong model. Listen for our discussion of that.

Nick Molina & the Kleinman Realty team
Nick Molina (far left) and the Kleinman Realty team

And much more. This was a fun interview with an inveterate entrepreneur, a guy who can't quit the game of business, and is channeling that passion into our model of entrepreneurship through acquisition.

Here's Nick Molina, owner of Kleinman Realty.